Types of Theories of Human Development - Essay Example

THEORY OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Introduction The theory of human development combines past notions from environmental economics, viable growth and other concepts relative to human welfare. The aim of the theory is avoiding the unconcealed policies that appear irrational in the justification of concepts in psychology, social science, ecology, economics (Van, 2008). This is only achievable if the theory of human development arguments are on an international context. Typically, theories of human development create a charter under which people draw knowledge about human growth and learning in search of a better understanding. The different clusters of theories provide useful insight among people and societies, in not only human growth or development, but also thought and behavior. Types of Theories of Human Development Freud Sigmund was among the core proprietors of psychoanalytic theories relative to human development. Freud’s believe was that experiences as child affected a person’s overall development even as a youth. This belief influenced other psychologists who put additional effort on Freud’s theory. Consequentially, other psychologists came up with their own theories such as the eight-stage theory of human development by Erikson (Saul, 2013). Today, these theories are more prevalent and popular in cognitive development studies. Behaviorism, a commonly known school of thought today, became popular early in the 20th Century and after introduction in the faculty of psychology, learning theories have become prevalent too. The reason was that psychologists studying behavior felt the urge to put extensive attention on observable and quantifiable behaviors. This did not only create a different perception on human development but also made psychology appear as a more scientific discipline. Relatively, learning theories under a behavioral perspective focus on environmental influences that impact on human development. However, some of the behaviorists argue that erudition transpires only through developments of interaction and fortification. Bandura’s theories are entirely against this perception and lean mainly on the effects of observational learning. Lastly, the cognitive theories of human development focus on how the thinking process and psychological procedures stimulates a person’s development and transformation. Among the most renowned theorists of cognitive human development is Jean Piaget who formed her foundation on the notion that children do not receive information alone but are also scientists who have different perception of the world from their understanding and individually gathered information (Saul, 2012). Evaluation on Theories of Human Development The essential aspect behind all basic studies of human development is similar to that of environmental economics; the only difference is that these theories measure the welfare and detect the physical, emotional and psychological development based on human health. Additionally, human development theories go a step further in evaluating social aspects and their exploitation and optimization to come up with greater value behind human growth. Typically, it is relative to ecology because most of the contributing and distributing factors focus on where people live; this forms the foundation of most of the major theories. However, this concept results to other queries, particularly on how wealth and resourcefulness play part in how people live. The query is prevalent in most studies that view development as freedom and even through evaluation of features of people’s lives such as energy, environmental well-being, family among others; there is no standard answer (Francis, 2011). Happiness and tolerances are the only factors that create a rational but substandard argument behind how wealth can affect the lives people want. Assertively, theories of human development overlook factors such as the economy, politics or orthodox political sciences as internments that deter psychologists from making relevant conclusions. Piaget fixated on the reasons why young students answer general or logical questions wrongly and it was her chief believe that there are dissimilarities between how adults and children think (Saul, 2012). Typically, this was the foundation of her summary judgments relative to his theory. Under cognitive development, Jean Piaget performed the first ever study on the subject, especially from a psychologist. The theory of cognitive development was the first result of this study, as a contribution to the human development in psychology. Piaget also performed a number of tests as an attempt to reveal variation in reasoning capabilities. Among the conclusions made before Piaget’s studies and research was that adults’ thoughts are more efficient than children’s are. However, the cognitive development theory of Piaget starts by stating that children just think differently, not that they are efficient. It is a rational approach to studying human development in psychology because it bases on facts not on mere assumptions like before. An evaluation of neurons in the brain by Piaget showed that children inherit with very basic cerebral structures. These structures are the ones that evolve through acquiring knowledge through the different forms of edification that a child goes through i.e. from school, from parents etc. An assessment of other human development theories will show that Piaget’s theory is unique from varying perspectives (Saul, 2012). The core aspect that differentiates it from the rest is that it focuses on children more than other learners such as teenagers or the youth, which is a more orthodox approach. Secondly, Piaget puts a lot of weight on the development itself than processes or patterns of learning; typically, behavior is not a primary determinant of conclusions made on development. Finally, Piaget proposes distinct levels of human development patent from qualitative variations, which is different from the increase and intricacy of comportments, conceptions and philosophies that most psychologists weigh on. The theory elaborates on mechanisms and practices infants and children adopt as part of facilitators of their development to reasonable and straight-thinking adults; however, these practices and mechanisms only apply as a supposition (Newman &Newman, 2009). Ecological involvement and genetic evolutions form the foundation for Piaget’s theory as the key facilitators of cognitive development: the children reorganize their mental processes as they develop. The variations between the thinking of children and adults are prevalent because a child reconstructs an understanding of their environment as they develop. Through reconstruction, children can now differentiate what they have learnt and what they discover, which helps their universal development. Contrary to Piaget’s theory, the dynamic systems theory focuses on comprehending how a child’s movements progresses and alters because it emanates from the management of children with cerebral palsy (Karen, 2010). Movement and development appear as separate topics in psychology but the theory has relevant insight in human development. According to the theory, movement results from the communication of many subsystems in a child, the task of moving and the environs. Organization and interaction among the sub-systems are the chief requirements to achieving a particular task. Importantly, all subsystems are similar in all attributes. The overall concept behind the Dynamic Systems Theory is that in human development psychologists need to consider all factors i.e. behavior patterns, learning, development, environment etc. This way, the task at hand (establishing the human development theory) will be achievable. In Piaget’s theory, only one factor (subsystem) was primal but it gave a rational concept. What about other theories like Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory? The Social Cognitive Theory by Bandura is a progression of other theories that explain the developmental changes experienced by people in their lives as the analysis foundation for human development (Bandura, 1977). The main concern was the psychosocial functions of people as part of progression from a child to adult. Bandura recognizes that human development is non-monumental by considering variations in human abilities (Bandura, 1986). The differences result from diverse psychobiologic origins and other conditions that apply in their enhancement and sustainability. Definitely, as a person develops, they experience alterations in their settings i.e. practices in the society; these changes affect their capabilities individually. Bandura’s social cognitive theory creates a completely different outlook on human development. Naturally, review of every human development theory gives varying concepts to draw from. Evolutionary, psychosocial and cognitive development theories put significant weight on personal factors as the key determinants of human development (Francis, 2011). On the other hand, experiential, social learning and life courses reinforce the emphasis of environmental factors by other theories but evaluate interactions with person factors (Kolb, 1984). Theorists and psychologists have always purported human behavior and development to go hand in hand, which is an understandable interdependence; hence, they base their studies on the dispositions and ecological factors that shape and control conduct of people in different life stages. In human development, conduct, personal attributes and ecological powers all communicate and influence in each other in different ways (Boree, 2006). The difference accounts for the implication that the determinants are similar in strength or happen concurrently. Obviously, time is still a factor that influences all actions that cause a human development effect. Discussion and Summary A comprehensive human development theory should have causes of development as the foundation of the argument. This entails covering psychosocial stages in a descriptive perspective inclusive of experiences that assist in resolution of conflicts that they cannot affect people’s development. Crises are always prevalent in people’s lives affecting their development in more than one way; for instance, a child that has been in conflict with his/her parents grows up having varying thoughts and perceptions about family unlike a child who grow up in a caring environment. The varying factor between the two families is resolution of conflicts and crises that is not a primal feature of human development for most theories. Human social and emotional development is an expressive platform that most theories base their arguments on because they are the easiest areas to identify progress (Saul, 2013). For instance, self-esteem studies base on evaluating the way a person thinks and feels about himself/ herself as reflected by things they do and consider significant. The development of self-esteem starts on from childhood to adolescents to adulthood. Children with high esteem find it easy to solve arguments, overcoming negative peer pressure in the future and making new friends now and then. However, this does not happen solely during the childhood stages (Saul, 2013). On the other hand, children with low self-esteem have a hard time handling problems and do not think they have sufficient capabilities in almost all areas hence will frequently question their existence. Among their core traits is pessimism, which is not hard to notice especially for friends. However, where does the development and differentiation emanate from? As a child develops, they experience various sources of self-esteem with the chief source being the parents. Parental attitudes and behavior determine whether a child develops with high or low self-esteem. Support, encouragements and praise from parents gives a child a positive perception of working hard and succeeding in life; naturally, these are among the most influential elements of self-esteem development for a child. School and friends are also primarily influential particularly through their acceptance of factors such as competition, diversity and significance of accomplishments relative to education, sports and other co-curricular activities. However, the foundation of the development from the parents applies and in cases, where a child has low self-esteem; it affects their overall achievement in the above areas (Saul, 2013). Relatively, physical and emotional alterations resulting that the child starts to experience as adolescents affects their self-esteem. This effects cause both genders to spend additional time on things such as fashion or hygiene aiming to look a certain way. Moreover, they view fitting with peers as an obligation and will do almost everything to do so even if it means breaking their personal principles. Naturally, those with low self-esteem will most likely end up as victims of negative peer pressure. On the other hand, the psychosocial perspective is not an explicit area that most theories elaborate. The psychological growth of a child reflects a lot on the environs and society as chief influences; moreover, there are also the sources from which children and adults get intuition on how to deal with a certain crisis. From a psychosocial perspective, human development entails building trust with other people in the society, having certain personal factors that you go (your identity) and contributing to personal and societal development. Growth and development is not only in childhood, it is incessant, even for adults yet most of the theories only focus on when development begins. Erikson’s study on adolescents as depicted on his psychosocial theories emphasizes on feelings a part of human development, especially during this stage because people develop their own personal identity (Newman &Newman, 2009). However, feelings during adolescence are only a substandard cause of development that Erikson extensively addresses. Personality, according to Freud and Erikson, personality development takes place in stages (Saul 2013). Relatively, skills and abilities in life also dictate certain factors about an individual; for instance, a child’s ability and interest in socializing shows that they have a strong sense of self but focusing on sexual development during adolescence will only give an intimation of development that emanates from an individual’s emotional stature at that certain time. The social environment is a primal factor in people’s life and most of them depend on it vastly, especially in the completion of tasks i.e. acquiring information, interactions etc. However, interactions with the society take place spontaneously as a child, which makes it hard to make any progress when theorists and psychologists approach human development from this standpoint. Definitely, there are other causes of development in a child such as learning and others inherited factors but the only way to establishing the comprehensive causes is gaining full awareness on how people relate with varying environments (Newman &Newman, 2009). Social development does not entirely rely on studies or analysis of behavior whose foundations are assumptions on what a certain group should act at a specific age. The general approach to studying development emphasizes on comparison between individuals rather than the cause of development of the act itself. Establishing the discrepancies among individuals of the same age does not disclose the causes of development. Contrary, in social development and psychosocial approach, behavior analysis applies if certain people (adults or children) in a society have observable behavioral singularities that influence their development. Psychological studies should focus on every period of a person’s development and not only the critical periods such as childhood or adolescent; even though it seems easier to make predictions based on stages, such an approach beseeches internal processes such as casual factors hence making it hard to approve certain research findings. Concurrently, social patterns within an individual are the best way to identify the cause of an act for development. Typically, social patterns mostly apply in psychosocial intervention to help people with challenges but the same way they use to identify these challenges can form a firm foundation for identifying why a child thinks that a certain object is a bicycle or an adult thinks that the best way of resolving a certain crisis is as a group. These unusual aspects dictate peoples, interactions with the social environment and their influence in development. Consequences affect a person’s development by making alterations based on particular experiences, but this very influential only for youth and adults. Once a person faces certain consequences, their skills and intellectual abilities increase, which means that the implications are the causes of the development. Such outcomes should apply in the definition of development since they are not only effective, but also durable (Boree, 2006). The problems in the society or crises affect the psychosocial activeness of people more than any other factors meaning the greatest impact on human development comes from implications of such situations. Definitely, during occurrence, they negatively affect the overall functioning of the body but psychosocial support offers resilience and in different stages of life, people reflect on consequences of catastrophes and disasters to make right decisions and perform relative activities. Decisively, the society has other causes of development but crises and situations that require extensive attention are a pervasive example because they affect the emotional, physical and psychological statures of people. References Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action- A social cognitive theory Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice- Hall, Inc. Boeree, G.C (2006) Personality Theories Introduction: Shippensburg University, Psychology Department Retrieved from http://worldtracker.org/media/library/Psychology/Boere%20-%20Personality%20Theories.pdf Francis, S. (2011). Evolutionary Theory of Changes in Organic Design through Controlled Mutations and Contingent Selection: Communication Studies, University of Nairobi. Retrieved from http://cogweb.ucla.edu/ep/Evolution.html Karen, S. (2010). Dynamic Systems Theory- Framework for Exploring Readiness to Children with Cerebral Palsy: Can-child Centre for Childhood Disability Research. Retrieved from http://www.canchild.ca/en/canchildresources/dynamic_systems_theory.asp Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential Learning: Experience a Source of Learning and Development. Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey Newman, B. M., & Newman, P. R. (2009). Theories of human development. Taylor and Francis Group: Milton Park, Abingdon Saul, M. (2012) Jean Piaget and Developmental Psychology: Simply Psychology. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html Saul, M. (2013) Erik Erikson and Developmental Psychology: Simply Psychology. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html Van, H. (2008). Critical Examination of Acculturation Theories: University of Windsor 9.1. Retrieved from http://www1.uwindsor.ca/criticalsocialwork/a-critical-examination-of-acculturation-theories Read More